a dark crossover of 'Cat People' & GW where Catherine & Trowa have a dark strange secret.
"Thank you, Quatre, for coming with me to visit my sister," said Trowa, sitting next to Quatre in the first class section of the shuttle.
"It's not everyday that one sees one's long-lost sister," said Quatre, patting him on the hand reassuringly. He smiled at him and said, "I hope your meeting is everything you desire."
"You didn't have to use up your mileage points to get us into first class."
"Please don't worry, I have millions of mileage points. I really do need to use them up. Besides, you know I'd do anything for you," he said.
"I'm surprised Rashid and Abdul aren't with you."
"Well... "
"Yes, Quatre?"
"They're in business class behind us."
Trowa sighed.
"I'm sorry. I gave them strict orders not to bother us on this flight. I also told them not to follow us once we get there."
"... "
"Triton?" said a woman with curly brown hair, holding a sign near the airport gate that said 'Triton Bloom.'
"Catherine?"
Catherine ran up and gave Trowa a hug. "I'm so glad you're here."
"I'm more used to the name Trowa."
"All right, Trowa it is. Oh, who's he?" she said.
"This is Quatre Winner, my best friend since high school."
Quatre frowned at being simply called a friend but knew that Trowa probably wanted to drop it gently to her in a less public place. He sighed, then said, "I am glad to meet you." He held out his hand.
Catherine took it and gave it a firm shake. "I've got my car waiting for you," she said.
"What is it that you do at the circus?" Trowa said as they sat down in her trailer.
"I do a mixture of acrobatics and knife-throwing."
"It must be genetic. Trowa was the best gymnast in college. I always told him he should've gone into the Olympics, but he said he didn't want that type of pressure," said Quatre.
"It's better that way," Catherine said. "Acrobatics should be enjoyed for itself not for a piece of metal."
"Do you know anything about our parents?"
"I have pictures of them in the photo album. We look a lot like them. They both worked for the circus. Father was a lion tamer. Mother pretty much did the same things I do now. But then the accident happened. Both of us must have fallen out before the car went through the railing."
"What happened after that?"
Catherine sighed, "They died when they hit the bottom of the chasm."
Trowa digested it. Quatre gave him a worried glance.
Catherine opened up a photo album. "But here's a picture of us."
The photo showed a smiling woman with long brown hair holding a baby in her arms standing next to a very muscular man with green eyes. On the man's shoulders was a little girl who was unmistakably Catherine.
"I don't, I don't remember any of this," he whispered.
"Well, don't worry about it. You were too young to remember the things that I remember. Trowa?" she said as she smoothed Trowa's hair back from his face.
"Yes, Catherine?"
"Is there anybody in your life right now?"
"Well... actually there is."
"Really, why don't you tell me all about her?"
"Actually, it's me."
Catherine blinked as if she had forgotten all about Quatre and looked at him. Her eyes narrowed. "What?"
"It's true, Catherine, Quatre is my boyfriend," said Trowa quietly.
Catherine gasped. "Boyfriend?"
"I'm sorry that it's such a shock to you, but Quatre and I have been together since we were fifteen."
Catherine was quiet for a moment, then said, "Well, at least I know who you are, your name?"
"Quatre Raberba Winner."
She turned away. "I never imagined that this could happen... "
Quatre stood up and said, "I'll be waiting at the hotel, Trowa. I think there's many things you need to explain to your sister."
"Quatre... "
Quatre gave him a reassuring smile, then left the trailer.
Trowa patted his sister on the hand. "Catherine, please don't be like this. I don't want us to have to leave each other just when we've been reunited. He is the best person I know, the most... "
Catherine then reached out and wrapped her arms around him. "I'm sorry, Trowa. Don't worry, no matter what, I won't let you go." There was a strange shimmer in her eyes. "How about we see the lions?"
Quatre thought to himself, Catherine hates me. I can sense it. Somehow I don't think it's just because she's concerned as a sister. When she got angry, her eyes flashed with such violence. He shivered as he sat on his hotel room bed. He picked up the newspaper he picked up and unfolded it. The headline read, "Fifth Victim Found In Motel Room."
The article detailed how the victims were found in their rooms, naked and with bite and scratch marks that resembled that of a large wild cat.
Quatre put that section aside and looked for the comic strips.
"Trowa," said Catherine as she watched Trowa watching the lions walk up to him and do a feline version of a smile. "The lions like you."
"Yes, so it seems. For some reason, I've always been good with cats."
"It is because they can sense that you are one of them, a cat person." Catherine's eyes shined. Yes, this is the right person. I know it. "You could probably do well as a lion tamer."
"... "
"Trowa, stay with me at the circus. With your acrobatic skills, I'm sure I could talk the owner into hiring you and it would be a really fun way to get to know each other. I don't want just a few days with you, Trowa. I've already lost years of knowing you and won't be satisfied by the occasional visit at Christmas."
"But Quatre... "
"If he is as wonderful as you say he is, he'll understand," said Catherine impatiently. "Please, just for a couple months, there's so many things I need to tell you about our family."
"I will think about it, but eventually I must head back east with him."
"You might find circus life to your liking."
"I don't want to make any promises."
"That's perfectly understandable. Now come and let me whip up some soup for you."
"So, how was your day with your sister?" said Quatre as he and Trowa had a meal in their room.
"It was very informative. She told me that even though family history tends to get vague beyond the great-grandparents, she's sure that our ancestors were mostly of Spanish and Mayan ancestry. She had some really old pictures. She also doesn't know how to make soup."
Quatre laughed. "That bad, Trowa?"
"Yes. She showed me around the circus. She also showed me what her act at the circus is. She's a knife-thrower."
"Sounds exciting."
"She also asked me to stay with the circus a couple months."
"What did you say?"
"I told her that I would think about it, but that in any event, I would be going home with you."
"Your sister... She doesn't like me very much, does she?"
"Quatre... "
"No, I'm serious. She thinks... "
Trowa put his finger on Quatre's lips. "Shhh, don't worry about that. No matter what she says, I will not give you up. She may be my sister, but you are... " Then he reached down and squeezed his hand.
Quatre smiled back.
The man smiled at himself in his apartment's bathroom mirror. He smoothed back his balding pate with his hands and took off his glasses. You are the man, he thought. He quickly took off his tie and the rest of his suit. Sent that girl, what's her name, Katey, whatever, a drink and here she is. He then yelled, "Ready or not, here I come!"
He walked out of the bathroom. The lights were already off and he heard growling under the bed. He peeled back the covers to see a pair of shiny yellow eyes peer at him, eyes that weren't human.
"AHHHHHHH!" he screamed... once.
Quatre lay back on bed, naked, spent from the most expert blowjob he'd ever experienced. "Trowa?"
"Yes, Quatre," said Trowa as he drank a glass of wine and massaged his jaw. No matter how practiced one became, it was still quite a workout for one's mouth. Unlike Quatre, he still had his jeans on.
"Why?"
"Why, what?"
"Why is it that we don't go any further?"
"You don't enjoy this?"
"You know I do, but I want to fuck or be fucked, I don't care which. Besides, Trowa, you never let me blow you."
"I'm fine with that."
Quatre sat up, sweat dotting his body. "I'm not fine with it. Half the fun of having sex is getting the other person off, watching them really lose themselves in what you're doing to them. I want to see you lose control."
Trowa suddenly pushed him back down on the bed and pushed Quatre's hands over his head. "I'm afraid, Quatre."
"Of what? What are you afraid of?"
"That if we were to go any further, that if I were to totally lose control... I'd consume you, eat you up... " The expression in his green eyes were cold, wild and distant. "And not in a very pleasant way, either."
"Why do you think that?"
"It's a gut feeling." Then Trowa sat up, letting go of Quatre's wrists. "I want you to be happy, Quatre. If I can't make you happy, then I could always leave."
"I'm sorry, Trowa. It's just that I think it would really be fun if we had some fun. We can go slow, use the whole tube of lube. If you really don't like the mess, well, we can always use an enema ahead of time." Quatre then wiggled his eyebrows and said, "Who do you want to be, the patient or the doctor?"
Trowa threw a pillow at him and said, "You look so sweet, I bet I'm the only person who doesn't buy the Mr. Innocent bit."
Quatre smiled wickedly. "You could be right at that."
Trowa watched as Catherine did a trapeze act that had her twirl upside down held up only by her ankles, and walk a tight rope with only the help of an umbrella.
"Your sister is truly amazing."
"Isn't she, though?" said Trowa. "Perhaps I should run away with the circus."
Quatre flashed him a questioning look.
"I was just joking though she did invite me to do so."
"Call me selfish but I would miss you too much."
"All right," yelled Catherine, "Who wants to be the one who stands before my blades?" She held up several wicked looking throwing knives. Then she looked straight at Quatre and said, "How about you, sir?"
"Me?" Quatre suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of dread.
"I will, Catherine," said Trowa.
Catherine looked surprised then nodded. She took Trowa's hand and led him to the board where he had to stand.
Thok! The knife landed an inch to one side of his face. Thok! Another landed between his legs. People clapped impressed. Thok! Another went right between his legs, causing Quatre to cross his legs. Catherine threw another knife.
Catherine gasped. The knife just brushed Trowa's face, leaving a small cut. Quatre stood up, involuntarily.
Trowa stepped forward and bowed. People began clapping.
"I'm so sorry, Trowa," she said, spraying antiseptic and putting a small bandage over the cut once they'd walked out of the tent. "I should have been more careful."
"It's all right."
"It's not. You're the only one I've got and I... "
"It's all right," Trowa took her hands off his face. "Please, you don't need to fuss over me."
"Trowa, are you OK?" said Quatre.
"I'm fine, Quatre."
"Great show, Catherine," said Quatre.
Her eyes flashed at him. An image went off in Quatre's head, an image of muscle and glowing eyes and sharp teeth, a large ferocious cat of some kind. He closed his eyes and winced. What was that? he thought.
She reached out towards him. "Get back! Don't touch me!" Quatre yelled.
Trowa frowned. "What's wrong with you?" said Trowa.
Catherine turned and ran off.
"What was that, Quatre?"
"I'm sorry, Trowa. I just had another one of those attacks, the ones where I sense things. I saw... I saw... Trowa, I don't feel so good." Quatre fought a sudden feeling of nausea.
"I'll drop you off at the hotel but then I want to talk to Catherine, explain things, all right?"
Quatre nodded.
"I'm sorry for the way Quatre reacted today," said Trowa as he sat down at the table.
"Do you know why he did that?"
"He sometimes senses things. It's hard to explain. It's like he's a borderline psychic. I think he senses that you don't like him much."
"Well, it seems as if he's taking up all your time. Can't help but be a little jealous," said Catherine as she gave Trowa a bowl of soup.
Trowa began eating it and saying, "Catherine, I really want you to get along with him. He's a big part of my life and... Hmmm, I suddenly feel very sleepy."
"It's been a long day, Trowa. Let me drive you home."
"Cath... " whispered Trowa.
Catherine looked down at her groggy brother and thought, There's much I have to explain to you. She put his arm around her neck and put her other arm around his waist. She walked out of the trailer with him. The ringmaster said, "What's wrong with him?"
Catherine smiled and said, "He drank a little too much so I'm giving him a lift back to the hotel."
"Need any help?"
"Nah, I'm fine."
"If you insist," said the ringmaster.
Where is Trowa, thought Quatre. He should have been back here an hour ago and he's not answering his cell phone. Her phone just keeps on ringing, too. He sat up in bed. Something IS going on. That image I saw, it was no accident. He took the cell phone out of his briefcase and hit auto-dial. "Rashid, I know it's late but... "
Trowa woke up, tied to a chair. His hands were tied to the arms of the chair while his ankles were tied to the legs. Catherine was standing in front of him. The lights were low.
"Catherine... Why are you doing this?" he said.
"Because you don't understand what's going on, Trowa. I want you to understand what we are." Her eyes shone like those of a cat in the dark. "We are cat people."
Trowa simply watched her without saying anything.
"A long time ago, before the boundaries of the world were as firmly set as they are now, people worshipped elemental spirits. They also worshipped various aspects of Nature in all her various forms. One of those forms was the jaguar. The Mayans made blood sacrifices to their jaguar god. Even some South American Indians believe that jaguars are reincarnations of their ancestors. You see, before the temples were built, people really believed in their prayers and their belief was strong enough to call on some very powerful spirits. Some of them were jaguar spirits. In order to remain here and stay powerful, blood sacrifices were required. Even though they could take the form of a human, they were not human."
"Unfortunately, once the boundaries of the world were set, we couldn't return to the spirit world. And our powers were reduced as people slowly stopped worshipping us. So, as exiles, we had to fend for ourselves. It takes a great deal of thought to keep us from revealing our true nature. Surely, even in your relationship with Quatre, you've noticed that you kept yourself restrained, afraid of the wildness that's in your heart."
Trowa nodded.
"I thought so. I bet that you haven't gone much beyond kissing, right?"
"A bit beyond that."
"But you're afraid, aren't you? That you could do something dreadful, this nameless fear that bothers you."
"How did you know?"
"I know because I've felt it. I... I know because I know what happens when you revert back to your true form and the only thing that will make you go back is to make a sacrifice."
"Catherine... "
"After our parents killed themselves, I looked through all their belongings. I couldn't figure out why. That was when I found mother's diary. It told me everything... About how terrible they felt that they condemned the two of us to this life... how terrible that they could never have a choice about anything... how they would always live with this secret to the end of their days. About the consequences of being with someone other than someone like us... Trowa, those men killed by a wild cat... it was really... "
"Shut up!" screamed Trowa. "I don't believe this."
Catherine hugged Trowa's knees and looked up at his face. "Trowa, don't you see? You have to stay with me, for Quatre's sake. Believe me, I searched all over the world for someone else. We two... are the only ones left. But I guess I'll have to show you the truth before you believe me. I didn't want any of this but you're my only hope for something like a normal life... I've tried to stop but it's so strong... It's like a hunger that doesn't go away... You know how our parents were, every night the way you could hear the springs... "
"But Catherine, we're... "
"So were our parents!" Tears were running down her face.
Trowa gasped, then shook his head wildly. "I... can't believe. Don't... " She's got to be insane... She must be...
"Trowa, there's only two things we can do. We can either live together or we can commit double suicide. I know that you don't believe a word I'm saying, but let me show you."
She stood up. She removed her shorts and tank top, revealing her athletic frame. Suddenly, she got down on all fours.
Trowa watched as the muscles of her body rippled then rearrange themselves. Fur burst from her skin and her frame began to twist in ways that a human's never would. Her face became unrecognizable. Trowa began screaming as he saw that she was telling the truth.
"Trowa!" yelled Quatre as he flung open the door.
Quatre stepped into the hospital room. Trowa turned away from the TV and looked at him. "Hey."
"Hey," said Quatre. "I got these for you." Quatre showed him the bouquet he got for him.
"I'm so sorry, Trowa," said Quatre. "Rashid feels bad about it, too, but we both saw a jaguar about to kill me. I even have claw marks on me just like a cat's. I even had cat hairs on my clothes. The police think that she's the one behind all those murders in town. They don't know how to explain it, but since her hair has been found at the scene of the crimes, they've decided to close the cases. This is not how I wanted it to end. Trowa, please talk to me."
"How did you find me?"
"It wasn't my idea but Rashid and Abdul were always keeping tabs on the both of us. They got really worried when they saw Catherine drive off with you into the city. Abdul tailed them. I called Rashid after you didn't come back to the hotel room after the dinner and he drove me here."
"I see... "
"Trowa... "
"Quatre... I'm just trying to think about what she said to me before she died. I'm not trying to shut you out. It's been very hard for me to... very hard to figure things out."
Quatre opened his mouth then shut it, saying, "If you need me, you know where I am."
Trowa nodded.
A week later
Quatre was up late at night at his house, watching some late night talk show host making fun of the President again. Trowa hasn't come over since Catherine died. I can't blame him, I suppose, but I wish that... He heard a knock on the door. He peered through the hole and saw that it was Trowa.
"Trowa, how are you? I haven't... " said Quatre, right before he felt his mouth engulfed in a kiss.
"Quatre... I've made up my mind," said Trowa. He shut the door behind, then slowly took off his shirt, then started to walk towards the bedroom.
"Tro... " said Quatre as he watched Trowa slowly throwing off his undershirt, then belt, then sliding off then stepping out of his jeans. He followed, spellbound. He, too, began taking off his clothes. Perhaps tonight, we can go a bit further, he thought with a smile.
Quatre woke up, feeling something sitting on his chest. "Heavy," he whispered. "Trowa, you're... " He opened his eyes to see a jaguar looking down at him with green eyes. Quatre opened his mouth as if to scream, but the cat simply stared at him quietly as if it was sad. Quatre looked to the side and found that Trowa was not in bed. He looked back at the cat. "Trowa?"
Quatre gasped. The cat jumped into the air and spun around three times before landing on its feet and then he jumped out the open window, never to be seen again.
The End
(:./mk/cat)
